PRO-ACTIVE PARAMEDIC HOME PROGRAM HELPS SENIORS WITH $3.25M FROM PROVINCE
Mark Clairmont | MuskokaTODAY.com
MUSKOKA — With LTC deaths dominating COVID coverage, Ontario is investing $3.25 million to expand the Community Paramedicine for Long-Term Care program in Muskoka.
Even as the province’s Health Minister Christine Elliott admitted today that not all long-term care residents have received the vaccine as they recently claimed.
It hopes this new investment will help more seniors on long-term care waitlists stay safe while living in the comfort of their own homes for longer.
The program, which has been use in Muskoka for more than a year, is a pro-active effort to reach out and visit seniors and other patients before they end up calling 911. By making house calls in advance to follow-up previous hospital visits.
See a MuskokaTODAY.com video interview below with Muskoka Paramedic Services’ Chief Jeff McWilliam.
“This is great news for our seniors around Muskoka,” said MPP Norman Miller in a release Thursday afternoon. “Our seniors will benefit by being able to stay in their own homes longer, it will take some of the load off of their families and loved ones and it will take some pressure off our hospitals.”
Miller was joined at the announcement by District of Muskoka chair John Klinck, District Councillor and health services committee chair Steve Clement (a former paramedic) and the Chief of Muskoka Paramedic Services Jeff McWilliam.
“We are very thankful and appreciative to Premier Ford, Minister Fullerton, and MPP Miller for this news today,” said Klinck. “This important investment will help us meet a great need in the community by providing support to seniors at home while they await space in long-term care. Many families in Muskoka will take comfort knowing that their loved ones will soon have more access to the highest quality care that is provided by community paramedics.”
The long-term care focused Community Paramedicine program — which has been in use for more than a year — uses the skills of community paramedics to help end hallway health care and provide additional care for seniors.
The first phase of this program was announced in October 2020, in partnership with five communities. This expansion will help keep seniors safe, while delaying the need for long-term care by providing enhanced at-home supports.
“Expanding our Community Paramedicine program will also help to reduce Alternative Level of Care pressures on our hospitals,” said Clement. “By providing at home support to seniors and others in the community that have had difficulty connecting to the health care system, those that are at high risk of hospital admission or frequent hospital re-admissions can remain safely at home until space becomes available in a long-term care setting.”
Community Paramedicine programs can include:
- Access to health services 24-7, through in-home and remote methods, such as online or virtual supports;
- Non-emergency home visits and in-home testing procedures;
- Ongoing monitoring of changing or escalating conditions to prevent or reduce emergency incidents;
- Additional education about healthy living and managing chronic diseases; and
- Connections for participants and their families to home care and community supports.
“Having this funding will allow the expansion of Muskoka Paramedic Services’ award winning community paramedicine program and allow us to reach more clients and support the overall healthcare system in Muskoka,” added Chief McWilliam. “Community Paramedics are capacity enhancers who will work with municipal stakeholders to compliment and not duplicate existing services by filling in gaps; a needed role in the community. Each Community Paramedicine program across the province may be similar in some aspects however each one is tailored to the needs of the community, as is ours here in Muskoka.”
MuskokaTODAY.com video interview with Muskoka Paramedic Services’ Chief Jeff McWilliam last summer about home visit program.
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